The recent killing of ten persons aboard a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza by Israeli soldiers is a most horrendous, outrageous and abominable act. This action by Israel must be condemned in the strongest terms by the entire world as it was a naked act of brutality on unarmed people and a provocation of the Palestinian people. It should be noted too that the attack took place in international waters which sends the clear signal that Israel does not respect international law and conventions.
Locally only the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) among the political parties have so far condemned the attack and reiterated its solidarity with the Palestinian people. This is not surprising because the PPP from the very inception of the conflict in the Middle East has been consistently supporting the Palestinian people to have a state of their own and which they have been denied up to this day, resulting in turmoil, wars and instability with ensuing suffering, senseless loss of lives and limbs and economic stagnation.
The PPP noted that: “The reason that people from various parts of the world decided to take aid to the people of Gaza is that Israel destroyed Gaza by intense bombings and has subsequently imposed a blockade on the Palestanian people living there. All the reports coming out of Gaza speaks about the atrocious conditions that people are forced to live under.”
It would be interesting to see what some of the big powers, which support and prop up Israel and are quick to urge strong sanctions on other countries which they perceive to be supporting terrorism, would do in the face of this brutal Israeli attack.
In fact, had it not been for this support by these powers Israel would not have had the pluck to carry out the countless unjustified and naked acts of aggression against the Palestinian people. However, when these acts of aggression are executed by Israel these powers are silent or issue statements which are ambiguous and void of any firm condemnation of the aggressor.
It is only natural therefore, that the state of Israel is emboldened and realises that it has the support of these big powers which is a licence for it to continue its persecution and slaughtering of the Palestinian people.
Today we hear about sanctions against certain states for possessing nuclear weapons or allegedly developing capacity to manufacture them. But on the other hand these same powers are silent on the fact that Israel is in possession of nuclear weapons. And the world is watching the destruction of Iraq which was invaded by big powers under the guise that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction when the IAEA repeatedly made it categorically clear that there was no evidence that the country had any such weapons. We are now witnessing the gradual political, economic, historical and cultural destruction of Iraq. Thanks to the invasion of big powers which believe in the philosophy of might is right and any belief or philosophy which runs counter theirs is wrong and must be eradicated by any means.
The troubles in the Middle East, in particular the Palestinian issue needs a long term solution which includes the right of the Palestinian people to a homeland of theirs. Any proposed solution which excludes that right will not suffice. This is the crux of the matter which some of the big powers are evading because they perceive the Middle East to be one of their backyards and Israel to be one of their gendarmes in that backyard which will help to safeguard their interests.
From an economic standpoint the conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere are helping the wheels of the military industrial complex to turn at rapid rates and keep their economies floating. But most importantly raking in super profits for the owners of the military industrial complex under a policy of profits before people is a key consideration for maintaining wars around the globe.
So while geo-political considerations are a key factor in the Middle East, economic considerations are equally important for the “supreme class.”